


A silent encounter

by intotheblue2212



Category: Mermaids: The Body Found
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-23 14:08:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10720860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intotheblue2212/pseuds/intotheblue2212
Summary: What happens when you go diving alone....and when you never stopped believing





	A silent encounter

First of all I want to say that this is my first time posting one of my stories...so please enjoy yourself while reading.  
Second thing is that you need to know that some years ago when I was on a vacation in Egypt I had such an encounter....not the situation I´m going to write here...but I saw them with my own eyes...so this story is based on what I saw the rest is of course made up by myself.  
The ones that wish to believe I can tell at this point that everything is true and they exist.  
For all the others out there...please enjoy...maybe you will believe, too.  
So folks here we go...

 

I always told my mother it would be a bad idea to go there. The weather was too hot, the air too dry to breathe, but she insisted so we actually did go. My suitcase was heavy so I dragged it along with me on our way through the airport. Our plain would take off in more than two hours so there was plenty of time for my mom to discover the beauty of airport shopping...wuhu …lucky me.  
So there was I walking behind her like a little puppy on a leash while she was collecting her groceries from several shops which were way too expensive, but scince when do mothers listen to their daughters? Well I guess this day has to be invented..."Really really quickly" I thought by myself. I let myself slump down onto one of the suitcases and dried my wet forehead with the front of my shirt I was currently wearing. „Damn mom...how much do you want to buy here? Don´t we have anything we need?" I said pleadingly as she entered the 3rd drugstore of the day. I looked at my watch...1 hour more to go...time to finally check in. „We need to head to the gate so we can check in...It´s time!!"  
"Yes darling, just give me one more minute!" was her answer and I rolled my eyes...1 more minute would be like a year so we would never catch the plain...like always.  
And so it was. After some stressful hurrying to our gate there came one bothersome flight with a pissed mom. „I´m sorry you couldn´t buy that scent you wanted but we needed to catch the plain!" I tried to explain, but I was beaten with silence. „Okay, “I said „you want to play that game now? Fine then...here you go...three thick magazines for plane shopping! Isn´t that great? My treat by the way choose whatever you want, but stop...please stop killing the trip! It´s the first time we really go for vacation scince das left us...so will you please cheer up?" I took a glance sideways just to see my mother fell asleep. Oh lord...this was going to be a funny trip!  
The 5 hours flight passed by and we landed safely where we intended to go...Egypt! It has always been a dream of my mom to go there, but my dad had been a useless workaholic who never gave a shit about family so we never had a chance to go there. On my mom´s last birthday my brother Ryan and I threw together our money and bought to tickets for a 2 week long vacation by the red sea. It just happened that dad left my mom one week after her birthday because of another younger woman...so cliché. First it was just the three of us so we decided to get a third ticket for Ryan, but he left shortly after for university so he left just the two of us and here we are.  
As we picked up our luggage at the local airport we started looking for our tour guide who would also lead us to our hotel. We started walking outside when I noticed my mom being eerily quiet. I took a glance in her direction and saw her walking slow with her head down. I stopped and waited for her to close up. When she had reached me I took her hand and gave it a squeeze. Her eyes shot up and I saw that she had been crying...they were all red and watery.  
„Oh mom I´m so sorry! I shouldn´t have mentioned dad!" I whispered and hugged her tightly „Let´s just forget about him and stupid me and just enjoy our two weeks girl-time okay?" a weak smile appeared on her tear stained face when she gave my hand a reassuring squeeze.  
„You are right sweetheart...who needs men when you can have such a wonderful daughter." I smiled back at her and linked my arm with hers „Let´s go then you crybaby!" I mocked and dragged her out of the crowded hallway into a hopefully enjoyable holiday.

 

The first three day passed by really quickly; we went on a lot of trips and visited famous places like the Pyramids. We even rode some camels though my mother insisted she would never come near such a stinky beast. I just rolled my eyes and dragged her along with me to the beast lying next to us.  
We rode along the coast and through some lonely desert that did not seem to end, but after four hot ours we arrived back at the point we started. My mother nearly slipped of her camel and cried something about heat and sunburns, it was pretty funny.  
At the fourth day we got up really early and rented some quads to discover the coast by ourselves. It was still dark outside when we drove to the beach so there were no people. We speeded up to high speed and raced through the sand. I heard my mom laugh in front of me and I began to smile…I hadn´t heard her laugh for ages it seemed.  
We stopped our quads at a nearby bay we discovered yesterday. I took of my helmet and slid down the seat to burry my feet in the cool white sand. I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment. The silence was nearly overwhelming after there have been 2 hours of the loud motor noises our quads did make. I looked over to my mom and got up. She was just unfastening her own helmet when I dropped myself into the sand next to her feet. She squealed and jumped at least two feet away from me. “Gosh girl you startled me!” she cried out and dramatically pressed her hands on her heart.  
“Sorry mom didn´t mean to.” I said and looked on the ocean. The sun was starting to rise and turned the Red Sea into a real red sea. My mother laughed and sat down beside me.” It´s okay little one I was not scared for real.” “Yes you were, stop lying!! You get scared so fast!” I turned my head and smiled at her. “You know I haven´t heard you laugh in a long time. It´s nice to hear that from you again.” I said into the blue and looked and the moving water again.  
“Well…” she started…” it´s been a long time scince there was something to laugh for me, too, But I´m really happy to be here with you. If only Ryan could be here with us. He would love it here and he would love to ride a quad…such a little speed junkie he is. I just want us to be a family again you know? I really miss that.”  
“I know what you mean mom, but I think family is so much more that a happy mom, a happy dad and some happy children playing around in the yard. Family is the people your heart belongs to. Even if it´s just the two of us. Even two people can be a family.” I looked into my mom´s face and smiled at her warmly. “Dear lord little one…you´ve matured so fast…it´s hard for me to keep up with you, but I guess you are right. At the moment I think I don´t need much more than you and me laughing together while we are sitting in the sand. It´s so peaceful. Just look at the water.”  
My smile grew even wider as an idea popped up into my mind. “Well mom…” I said teasingly while I got up from the ground “… we´ve been here for nearly four days now and we haven´t even been in the water…ready for a swim or are you afraid the fish might bite you?”  
I stripped down to my bikini and started running towards the water when all of the sudden I saw a brown haired shadow flying past me towards the water. “Who´s last is a dumbooooo!!!” my mother shouted and splashed through the waves.  
“MOM!! That´s not fair you cheated!” I cried out and ran after her into the ocean. The water was still a little cold, but I didn´t care. I dived under into the blue sea and closed my eyes for a brief moment just to enjoy the cool feeling of the water soothing my dry and sandy skin. I broke through the surface again and saw my mother swimming some feet away from me. A wicked smile appeared on my lips as I went under water again and swam to where my mother was floating. I grabbed her ankle and tucked at it a few times before I swam away a little. When I dived up again I saw my mother screaming and searching the water for what had grabbed her by her feet. “Little one get out of the water. I think there are sharks ore something!!” She looked up with panic in her eyes and I could hold myself back and bursted into laughter. “As I said before mom…” I laughed even harder until tears streamed down my flushed cheeks “… you are so easy to scare!” She gaped at me mouth wide open before she began furiously splashing water at my laughing form. “You little jerk stop scaring me like that!! HOW! DARE! YOU! DOING! THAT! TO! ME!!!” She screamed at me underlining each word with a huge splash of water into my face. My cheeks were already burning from tears and the salty water that ran into my eyes. I could barely see so I raised my hands to protect myself from getting anymore saltwater into my face. “STOP! PLEASE STOP IT!! I CAN´T SEE ANYTHING!!” I shouted and turned away when the splashing didn´t stop. “How dare you turn away from me you little punk!! You scared me to death you´ll pay for that!!” My mother shouted at me and splashed even more water at me. I started running from her, but she came after me.  
Finally I let myself drop to my knees and folded my hands in a pleading gesture “Please stop I surrender. I SURRENDER!!! “  
One final splash and my mother bursted into laughter. She kneed beside me and hugged me tight. “Oh dear…that was one kind of a revenge don´t you think?” she laughed even more and patted my head. I tried to look up but the salt still burned in my eyes so I started to wipe the….for one second I could see and while I was looking straight over the shoulder of my mom who was still hugging me tightly I got a glimpse of something that looked like the fluke of something at least four feet long with a pale bluish skin. I blinked hard several time and whipped my eyes again, but when I opened them again the thing I saw was gone and the water was calm again. Maybe I just dreamed it or it was just a huge flake of sea foam drifted of by a wave I thought by myself. I shock my head and hugged back my mother shortly before I let go and rose to my feet. “Well…” I began “…that was a pretty awesome morning. What would you think if we would go for a little swim every morning for the rest of our days here? It was pretty refreshing wasn´t it?” I stroke back my hair and looked at my mom just to see a huge smile on her face. “I think I´d like that.” She answered. We linked our arms and walked out of the water back to where we left our quads. I began searching the backpack of the vehicle for a dry towel, but I guess I forgot to bring one. My mother seemed to be no different. “Well I guess we have to go back like this. Luckily our hotel is not too far from here so we should get back fast. I´m not quite happy with the idea of getting the flue while I`m here. Should we head back fast take a hot shower and then kill the all you can eat in the hotel?” she asked one eyebrow pulled up in a questioned look. “Well I guess that sounds like a pretty good idea.” I answered, happy about her suggestion. We went back on our quads, soaking wet as we were and drove back to our hotel as fast as we could. It was already warmer when we took of, but the wind was still a little cold on my skin so I looked forward more and more to get a hot shower and some nice hair conditioner to wash the salt off my body and my hair. I sighed and looked at the road and my mother in front of me. While I was driving my thoughts began drifting off a little bit and the picture of the pale blue fluke popped back into my head. What had I just seen? It couldn´t have been a shark. First of all the entire place where we were staying explicitly was free of sharks…well so we were told…and second sharks had horizontal fins like most ocean predators. Also I´ve watched enough national geographic documentaries to know that it had been way too small to be a dolphin. And what about that pale blue colour? I´ve never heard about anything with that colour before.  
I kept on thinking so hard about that, that I nearly missed the street that led to our hotel. The wheels screeched on the street as I rapidly turned the quad to catch the turning. I came to a halt and took of my helmet to catch my breath and my heart was beating fast.  
“Get yourself together stupid before you kill yourself!” I thought to myself and banned the pictures from my mind. “You´re okay? I heard the screeching and thought you crashed!” My mother hurried to my side and scanned me for injuries, but I was fine so I gave her a reassuring smile and shook my head. “I´m fine mom just missed the turn. Let´s get a shower I´m so salty you could season French fries with my hair.” My mother tilted her head and raised an eyebrow…she always did that when she doesn´t believe me. I looked at her and rolled my eyes. “MOOOOM I´m fine stop worrying!” I got of my quad and made a full body turn right in front of her “See not one scratch please let´s go inside now I´m freezing!” She let out a sigh and took my helmet from my hands. “Fine…” she said “…everything you say young lady. You go get inside and take a shower first I´ll go down to the quad rental and rent these things for some more days so we can discover our surroundings all on our own without such a stupid tour guide that no one understands. How does that sound? “  
“Sounds fine to me, but you should at least get yourself dressed a little more like that!” I gestured at her revealing bikini “otherwise you´ll get kidnapped and I have to call Liam Neeson to get you back.”  
She laughed at my little reference to her favorite movie and nodded in agreement.  
We got the chip card to our room from the trunk of the vehicle and went inside.  
As we arrived at our apartment I was already shivering a little bit. The air-conditioned was working at full power and it was really cold in the hallway. I put in the chip card and we stumbled into our room. I sighed in relief….here it was much warmer than outside and the sun that fell through the big window opposite of the door already started to warm up my legs nicely. “Hey will you move you twat I´m still in the hallway and I´m getting cold, too. And that’s called a caring daughter…sorry Sir, but I have to insist.” My mother´s voice came from behind me as she pushed me into the room completely. “Sorry mom. The sun was just so nice.”  
“You know what´s also really nice? A hot shower. So go hurry and get yourself ready otherwise these other fat tourists will destroy our plan of killing the all you can eat!!” I smiled at the thought of fat white tourists waddling through the big hall like penguins to get in line for their breakfast.  
My mother walked past me towards the big closet we shared and took out a long blue tunic and a pair of white flats. She completed her look with a huge pair of sunglasses and hastily pinned up her hair in a bun. “So little one see you in a second. Don´t use up all the hot water your mother is freezing, too.” With that she closed the door behind her and left for the quad rental.  
I rolled my eyes and began to step out of my still a little wet bikini. I wrapped myself in a big white towel and went outside onto the balcony where I draped my clothes over a chair so they could dry. As I went back inside I noticed my mom´s bikini that was lying in a little puddle on the floor. I sighed and picked it up to hang it beside my own. I looked at the pieces of fabric she had worn earlier this morning and shook my head in disbelief. When had my mother become so energetic again? The fabric was thin and colourfull with crossed striped of fabric draped over her cleavage and back. I shrugged my shoulders and placed her bikini beside mine and went inside again.  
The sun was quite warm by now, but on the inside I still felt cold and the salt started to itch on my skin so I hurried into the bathroom and got rid of the towel. I turned on the shower and stepped under the hot water. “God this feels so god.” I thought and closed my eyes in relief. It was getting warmer fast and I started shampooing my hair and rubbing my body with a soft cloth and some lotion I brought with me. It smelled like peaches and I really liked how my skin felt when I let it sit for some minutes. I Washed out the shampoo and began to hum quietly. The conditioner needed to sit for a while so I decided it would be a good idea to shave and cream my body with my favorite lotion. I turned off the water and searched for my shaving cream. I put it on my legs and got to work and after some minutes they were smooth like a baby butt again. I smile and rinsed out the conditioner finally feeling like a human again. Humming my favorite tune again I walked into the bedroom and picked my clothes for the day. I decided to go with a bikini underneath my shirt again. It seemed appropriate because I wanted to go to that bay again to get a little sun kissed “Time to get some tan.” I thought by myself and closed the bikini top at the nape of my neck. It was a nice neckholder in a cute pale green color which was my favorite because it matched my eyes so prettily. It came with a fitting high waist panty which had some revealing lace outcuts on both sides of my hips which let me appear thinner than I actually was. I liked the way I look…well mostly…but show me one person on this planet who thinks that he or she is perfect. I had a pretty flat stomach, as flat as I could get it at least, long legs which were rather pale from the long winter we suffered. My hair was long, like elbow length and I used to dye it red for what seemed like an eternity. I was always obsessed with Ariel so when I was off age I went nuts and dyed my hair red. It´s been red ever scince and I had no intention to change that. It also made my green eyes pop which made the choice of make up quite easy. A little bit of powder, a little bit of mascara and I was done for the day. I pulled over my favourite tank top on which it said “The best girls are born in December”. One final look into the mirror and I was good to go.  
As if my mother read my mind there was a knock on the door and I hurried to open. My mother rushed in and threw her sunglasses onto the bed. “Oh dear I think it is going to be a cold shower instead. The sun is already burning you fry eggs on the streets!”  
“Yeah looks like it. I already put on my bikini so we can go to the beach again after breakfast.”  
“Everything that has to do with cold water is quite a good idea today I guess.” My mother replied as she got rid of her tunic which she carelessly dropped onto the floor. I rolled my eyes again “Mom we have to talk about you clothing habits. You can´t just drop them wherever you stand at least put it back into the closet so it doesn´t get wrinkled.” I frowned at her and shook my head “I thought I was the daughter in this relationship. Seems to me I was wrong?”  
“You little wench. Stop educating me. I was just about to put it back into the closet.” “No you weren´t and you know that. Hurry, hurry or the tourist will kill the all you can eat before we have any chance to do so.” She looked at me liked a scolded child, but began to smile as she picked up her tunic from the floor and put it back into the closet. “What would I do without you little one? Always keep an eye on your old mother will you?”  
I stood up and placed a kiss onto her cheek. “You´re not old mom stop talking shit. You´re beautiful and you know that…Miss-revealing-bikini.” I winked at her and let her go off to the bathroom. When I finally heard the shower I went out onto the balcony and sat down on one of the two chairs that were standing around a small table. My mother was right when she said it was already quite hot outside. The sun was burning and I closed my eyes and drank in the warmth that crept across my face, legs and arms. Being here with my mom seems like it was meant to be. The weather was perfect, the food was good and the water on the beaches was heavenly, not too warm and not too cold. It would be really nice to go snorkeling during our vacation, but we had so much time left so I decided to enjoy the time and not to overplan our days.  
The water stopped and I heard my mother come out of the bathroom. “AAAAH…I feel like a human again darling. It took me at least three rinsings with the shampoo and the conditioner to get all the salt out of my hair. At least the didn´t lie about the saltiness about the Red Sea.” She laughed and began to dry her hair.  
I smiled and went inside. My mother sat on the bed; eyes closed with her fingers running through her hair whilst she dried it with the hairdryer. “She always does that when she dries her hair” I thought and watched her peacefully. My mother hat gorgeous hair. It was thick and dark, but scince das ran off I recognized a few strands of grey creeping up her temples.  
“Would you dry my hair to mom? It takes ages when I do it.” I asked her and she patted the bed beside her so I sat down with my back facing her. I took the brush from the nightstand and gave it to her when she began stroking trough some tangles.  
“You know I never told you, but I really like the red hair colour with which you use to dye your hair. It´s just you…like you were born with it. Of course I know better. “She added and laughed quietly. “My little mermaid child.” “I´m no child anymore mom, but I like the fact of being a mermaid. Would you like to life in the ocean for your entire life? I think it would be pretty awesome. The places you could go, so much to discover.” I closed my eyes enjoying the touch of my mother´s fingertips on my scalp. “But wouldn´t it be pretty lonely down there? I mean the ocean is so huge and you know I´m terrified of sharks. I guess if you would decide to live under the sea you had to come visit me on land…you know...the shark-free zone.”  
“ I guess I could do that. I mean I could protect you from all the sharks out there...you know I once went to that Chinese place where they always have these exotic fish days. I tasted shark once...wasn´t that bad. For you I would eat them all. Even if that would mean that I would become a fat mermaid. I could live with that.” “ Of course you would do that little one.” My mother replied and kissed my cheek. “All done with the hair. Shall we head down for breakfast now?” “ Yes please I´m starving.” As if my stomach heard me it grumbled loudly what made my mother smile.  
“Let´s go then!” my mother laughed and dragged me off to the dining hall.

 

The next two days passes by like a normal holiday. We went swimming every morning. After that came the breakfast, going to the beach. Excessive tanning till the sun began to set, one final swim in the ocean and then dinner in the hotel. On our sixth day we went to a diner near the beach our guide recommended to us. He said it had the best fish in the whole town so we went to try it. The taste was amazing, but most amazing were the people. Kind and generous as they were they gave us a lot of extras ; some free cocktails and a free dessert which tastes like they froze heaven and put it on a plate with some fresh fruits. It maybe was a sin to taste something so delicious, but guess what, we didn´t care a bit. My mother and I enjoyed every single bite and at the end of the dinner we had two really happy waiters who were clinging to the generous tips we gave them. At first they didn´t want to let us go, but after we promised we would visit again they had mercy and let us go to bed.

As we entered our apartment I was so stuffed I could only think about getting out of the tight fitting dress I chose for the dinner and getting some sleep real quick. My mother was no different. She let out a relieved sigh as I helped her with the zipper on the back of her dress. “Thank the gods child it was so hard to breathe in that dress by now. Gosh I´m so stuffed I just want to sleep.”  
She let herself fall onto her bed and got rid of her high heels….well originally they had been my high heels, but after she chose to wear a dress as well she decided her flats weren´t good enough. “I´m so lucky my daughter and I do share the same size in shoes.” She had said and winked at me.  
I was really happy that my mother decided to dress up after so much time so I gave them to her without any regrets. I got rid of my pair of high heels to and sighed as my slightly sore feet touched the cool stone floor of our apartment. It has been a nice evening, but I was worn out for the day so we went to the bathroom to clean ourselves up and get rid of the makeup.  
As we were lying in our beds and turned out the lights a comfortable silence spread between us. I was nearly asleep my mother began to speak.  
“I had a very nice evening today. We should to that more often when we are back home again. It felt…it felt like family again.  
I turned in my bed and looked at my mother through the darkness of the room. “Yeah I would like that. We lived quite separated lives before we decided to come here. I´ve missed that a lot. Can you even remember the last time you dried and brushed my hair like that? It was like ages ago.” I couldn´t see it, but I could feel that my mother was smiling right now. “I love you mom. I think I can live everywhere when you are with me…it´s like you are home.” “I love you; too little one…that one thing is never going to change. Now sleep tomorrow is a new day.”  
I could hear her breath get more even like she was drifting off to sleep…” Mom?” I asked quietly…” What is it little one?” she replied softly, “Can we on some point of our vacation go snorkeling? I really wanted to do that at least once.”  
“Of course we can little one, but just if you promise to protect me from sharks.” “I´m going to eat them all up mommy.” I replied sleepily “Good night mom.”  
“Good night darling sweet dreams.” She cooed softly and one second later she was asleep. I smiled and turned in my bed so I could face the huge window on my side of the room. A billion stars were twinkling through the opened curtains and a bright half moon lightened up the water beneath it. It was a very calming view and I slowly drifted off to sleep as well. The last thing I heard was the soft noise of the waves rolling up and down the beach beneath my window. Then I started dreaming.

 

I was swimming…I was swimming really fast. The water was warm and around me there were fish in all different shapes and colours. I turned on my back and started floating up to the surface. As my body broke through the surface it was greeted by warm sunshine and calming silence. No voice, no people, just me floating in the water.  
I heard a splash on my left side and I turned my face to see what caused the splashing sound.  
What I saw was the blurred shape of a pale blue fluke and a lean pale body diving into the water and disappearing out of my sight. I dived under and looked around, but the creature wad disappeared.  
I swam and swam, but it stayed hidden from my eyes. I swam to the surface again and as I broke through the surface and opened my eyes it was there right in front of me. A pair of huge silver blue eyes stared right at me and it´s hairless head was tilted sideways as if it was confused about what I was. There was no white in its eyes bit they were so clear and bright like the ocean itself. I had no fear, because I instinctively knew that it would not harm me so I reached out my hands in order to touch it.

I sat straight in my bed my arm still stretched out like I was about to touch the fair wet skin of that creature. My breath was calm, but my heart was beating fasts and just calmed down slowly.  
That was strange…a really strange dream. Swimming in the ocean...okay I could deal with that, but what was the creature all about? I was confused I normally did not dream such crazy stuff.  
My mother was still sound asleep so it had to be still late at night. I got up and walked to the nightstand where my phone was currently charging. I turned it on and looked at the time…5:30 am.  
Holy cow that was quite early, but I was wide awake now so I grabbed one of the books I brought with me and silently opened the door to the balcony without disturbing my mom´s sleep. I closed it behind me and sat down on one of the chairs. I opened my book and started reading, but my mind kept wandering back to the dream I just had so I couldn´t focus on the story in my hands. I put the book aside and look onto the ocean that lay in front of me.  
In Egypt the sun starts to rise at 5:00 so it was already quite bright outside. The rising sun was glistening on the water and it was already starting to heat up a little bit. I looked down at the blue water and a pair of silver blue eyes popped into my mind. They had been quite ethereal with nearly no white in them. The pupils had been blown wide and they had been encircled by a ring of a silvery blue colour I had never seen before. The details started fading the more I thought about it so I decided to go for my sketchbook which was stored in my backpack I had with me yesterday. I silently went inside and grabbed it from its place by my bed.  
I always liked drawing and I always kept some sheets of paper and some pencils at my nightstand at home. In some nights when an idea came to my mind I used to turn on my nightlight and sketch it down. This night was no difference. I pulled out my coal and my colour pencils and started sketching down the outlines of the face with the coal. When I was happy with the outcome I took three different shades of blue and began coloring the eyes. I decided to focus on them because they were the most memorable eyes I had ever seen.  
The sketching took shape and I started shading with a darker shade of blue to create some depth.  
My brain shut itself down and my hands were working on their own. I thought about that metallic hue around the pupil and that expression of curiosity I could not quite catch. When my hand started cramping around the pencil I looked down at my sketch and met two deep blue eyes that stared at me. It was good, but something was missing. I could not quite put my finger on it, but I decided once I got back home I needed to search for some metallic colours.  
I stared onto the ocean again and noticed that the sun was completely risen by now. How long have I been sitting here?  
“Darling where are you it`s time we get down for breakfast!” I heard my mother call from inside. “I´m here mom. I couldn´t sleep anymore and went outside to read and sketch a little bit.” I replied and stood from my chair. My back cracked loudly and I grimaced at the numbness that caused my legs to wobble a little bit. “You´re okay little one how long have you been out here?” my mother asked peeking through the curtains.  
“I don´t know exactly.” I replied “What time is it?”  
“Well it´s almost past 9 a. darling.” My mother answered and furrowed her brows. I looked at her in disbelief. “No way!” I said “I have been out here for more than three hours. I must have been totally focused.”  
“You know that always happens when you are sketching. What was it this time?” my mother asked curiously and peeked over my shoulder to look at my sketchbook I left on the small table. I picked it up and showed her my half finished sketching of those eyes I´ve dreamed of.  
“I dreamed them last night. It was a weird dream, but I barely remember anything of it…just these eyes and a blurred shape of a face got stuck up in my mind.” I explained to her as I handed the book to my mom. She looked at it for some seconds before smiling up to me.  
“You’re so talented little one. As I always said you should go study abroad and use that talent.”  
“Mom…” I said and took the sketchbook back from her “…you know I could never leave you to study. Who else should tell you then to pick up your clothes? You´d be lost without me…now that Ryan went away, too. Admit it you need my.” I winked at her and went inside where I put the sketchbook back into my backpack.  
“Here you go darling you forgot your pencils and your coal outside. It would be a pity if you´d lose them.” My mother said from behind me and placed the pencils gently down onto my nightstand. “Seems like we need each other to keep ourselves together, don´t we?” I laughed at her and put the pencils back inside my backpack as well.

After we finished our breakfast my mother insisted to spend the day at the public beach right in front of our hotel. I agreed, but I was slightly disappointed because there always were too much people for my taste. It was loud and packed with crying children that were running all over the place coating all other visitors in dust and sand. To cut it short...I was not looking forward to it.  
As we lay down onto our towels we brought along this time I grabbed my headphones and put them in to block out the noise from the beach, but unfortunately that didn´t quite work out. I rolled my eyes and looked at my mother who was stretching herself out on her towel right next to me.  
I sighed “Mom how can you even think of relaxing here?” I gestured around me towards all the people. She did not answer me so I looked at her and saw that she put in her headphones as well and was listening to her beloved country music. I sighed again and propped myself up onto my elbows. I decided to read a little bit and took the book from my backpack. It was quite stuffed so I had to drag it out a little harshly and my sketchbook came flying out together with my sun oil and some snacks I snatched from the all you can eat earlier.  
I groaned in frustration and began stuffing my things back into my backpack. When I picked up my sketchbook I instinctively opened it and looked at my latest sketch. Those blue eyes stared at me again and a barely finished mouth slightly gaped at me opened in confusion.  
I looked up onto the ocean and began questioning myself of what exactly I had seen. I slammed the sketchbook shut and put it back into the backpack. One last look at my sleeping mother and I grabbed my phone and went for a walk along the waterline of the ocean. The water around me was calming and cool against my feet and I dared to walk a little bit deeper into the water until it was knee high. It felt good and as I started listening to my music the noises of the people around me started to fade as I walked further and further along the coast. After half an hour of walking the coast made a sharp turn to the right where the ocean disappeared behind some high dunes. I walked past the dunes and found myself looking at the small bay my mother and I discovered a few days ago. This part of the beach was completely empty as if nobody knew it was here. I smiled and walked through the warm white sand. The water here was much clearer because nobody had been swimming in here with their oily skin. Finally some peace and silence. I took out my headphones and listened to the waves that rolled up to my feet. It was so calming…the light breeze was picking at my t-shirt and at my hair which was flying around my head. I loved it. That was how a holiday should be.  
I stripped down to my bikini and placed my clothes and my mobile onto a small piece of grass which was growing onto one of the dunes. “That way I don´t get sand everywhere when I put them back on.” I thought and started walking towards the water. The first splash on my thighs was cold, but I got used to it really fast and I dived into the ocean. I swam fast, really fast and when I came up again I was at least a good 100 feet away from the coast. Fortunately my feet could still touch the ground so I stood and looked around me. No one to be seen and the dunes held away every little bit of noise that was floating by from the packed neighbored beach. I smiled and swirled around in the water enjoying the cold feeling on my skin as the gentle breeze blew my hair away from my face. It was still the brightest time of the day and through the surface of the water I could see little fish swimming in-between my legs and near my arms. I stretched out my hands and some little clownfish began nibbling on my fingertips. It tickled pretty much, but I did not want to scare them away so I stood still and watched these little colourfull creatures play with my fingers. I giggled and slowly bent down a little bit so that my head was under water again. As I opened my eyes I had to blink a few times to get used to the salty water, but as my vision got better I could see everything pretty clear and it looked like I straightly dived into paradise. Hundreds and hundreds of small and big fish were swimming around and above me; hiding between a variety of colourfull corals and a small stingray passed by my feet and lightly touched me with his wing-like fins.  
It seemed like all the fish from the shore were hiding at this spot, avoiding all the people at the other side of the beach. I straightened up again to catch a breath. I could hold it in for quite a long time, but I still was a human and needed to breathe…unfortunately.  
“It´s so beautiful here. I never have seen something like this…not even on TV.” I thought to myself and watched the busy fish around me from above the water.  
I took a deep breath and dived under again; determined to go for a little dive along the shallow shore. Keeping my eyes wide open so I did not miss one thing I began floating on the surface barely moving my arms and legs. Then with a strong push from my hands and a flip of my legs I dived under.  
With a few strong movements of my arms and leg I reached the ground and held onto some rock that was peeking out from the ground. On its side there was an anemone and I could see a little school of clownfish floating in-between its tentacles. A few feet away from me a huge parrotfish was nibbling on a rock in search for food. “It´s so colourfull down here. It´s sad that we don´t have something like that back at home.” I thought and grabbed another rock to drag me forward. “I need to make pictures of this…I never want to forget about this place ever again.”  
I decided to go back on land and grab my mobile which I knew was waterproof so I could make photos underwater. I swam to the surface and took a deep breath to fill my lungs with oxygen again. It felt good, but I´d rather stay down there forever.  
When there was solid ground under my feet again I started walking up to the beach to get my phone. I was just a few steps away from the beach when I heard a loud splash just behind me. I turned around and looked at the water just to see a pale and big shadow disappear into deeper water a few feet away from me.  
I blankly stared at the point where it has disappeared for several seconds until my senses kicked in again and I ran off to get my phone. I hastily picked it up and sprinted back into the water. I took a deep breath and dived under. I turned around myself slowly to scan my surroundings; watching for every inch of a pale body, but it had disappeared.  
I shook my head underwater…stupid me…certainly my mind made it up again…one weird dream and I kept seeing creatures everywhere.  
I unlocked my phone and started taking pictures. I was glad I charged my phone before so I had enough time to swim along the shore to look out for the perfect pictures. I turned the phone in my hands s o I could take several selfies in front of this amazing background. When I was happy with the outcome of my little photo session I swam to the surface again. I had been at the bay for quite some time now so it would be a good idea to get back soon before my mother got worried. As I broke through the water my hair was all over the place and I leaned back my head to fix it. It got quite messy during my swim so I tried to put in into a messy bun and secure it with a loose strand of hair, but it seemed that my hair had other plans today and it kept untangling itself from the bun several time. I grunted in frustration and just let my hair fall down my back. I straightened up again and opened my eyes….and there it was.  
It was floating maybe 20 feet in front of me its head barely peeking out from the water, but I remembered those eyes…huge and blue as the ocean. My eyes grew wide and my mouth gaped open. This couldn´t be. I had to be dreaming...Certainly I must have fallen asleep on the beach and was dreaming that weird dream again.  
I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head violently, but as I opened my eyes again it was still there. I took a deep breath and let myself fall back into the water to clear my mind….this wasn´t happening right now. “It can´t be…it was just a dream.” I said to myself over and over again…heart beating fast and my legs were shake. As I was underwater I opened my eyes and hoped to see nothing, but just there right in front of me was a pale blue tale flipping back and forth through the water to support the lean pale body that was sitting on top of it. Two pale arms with webbed hands at the end where grinding through the water as the creature dived under as well. I moved my arms and leg to get some space between me and the humanoid creature which was coming closer little by little. I shook my head in disbelief and stared at it wide eyed, but I still couldn´t quite realize what was going on right now.  
Suddenly the creature increased its speed and came directly at me. I opened my mouth and tried to scream, but there was just a huge mass of bubbles escaping my mouth. I struggled to get to the surface…I needed to breathe, but my legs were weak and I started to panic. My vision began to blur and brain shut itself down. Panic; just pure panic was all that was left of me. What does it want…was it friendly…would I be its prey for the day?  
The last thing I noticed before I faded was a hue of blue encircling me; then the blue turned to black.

 

I woke up because someone splashed water into my face. I tried to open my eyes but they were heavy and crusted with salt. I coughed as I wanted to sit up, but my whole body was hurting like hell and my head felt like it would explode.  
I forced my eyes open and looked into the worried faces of to young women looking down at me.  
“Beck…BECK she has opened her eyes she´s alive!!” the left woman yelled and her voice made my head ache like hell. I squeezed my eyes shut as the pain ran down along my spine and I shivered.  
“I see that she has opened her eyes Sarah I´m not stupid.” The woman on the right answered. She sounded older than the woman called Sarah and her voice was not that high pitched.  
I opened my eyes again and looked past them to scan the ocean. I saw a little black dot peek out of the water at least 400 feet away from where I was lying in the sand, but my mind told me it must be the creature from before. I blinked a few times due to the fact that the sun was blinding me, but as I opened my eyes again it was gone.  
“Did you see it?” I whispered; my voice sounded hoarse and I barely couldn´t understand myself. I swallowed hard: My mouth was all salty and dry and it hurt a lot to breathe. I must have struggled under water for quite some time.  
“Did you see it?” I asked again; voice still rough, but at least they seemed to understand me. The shot each other a questioning look and took a glance over their shoulders to the point I have been looking at. “What are we supposed to see? We just came here and found you…all washed up and unconscious. I´m so glad you are alive. You gave us quite a scare you know.” The younger one…Sarah…pouted and grabbed me by my shoulder to help me sit upright.” Thank you I croaked and hugged my legs to keep my sitting position. I was sandy all over. It was in my eyes in my mouth and in my hair I was quite a mess. The older woman beck got up and looked around “Are you alone here or is somebody with you? Should we call the ambulance?” she asked and gave me a worried look. I shook my head and tried to stand up. Sarah gave me a hand and helped me to stand. My legs were still weak and I was thankful for her help. “No I´m not alone here. My mother is at the other end of the beach. She fell asleep so I went for a walk to get away from all these people. I never liked the noise of crowded people. I found this bay and went for a swim…that´s quite it” I explained to them. The details of a strange sea creature scaring the shit out of me I left unspoken…no need to make them think I was crazy right now. “You should not go diving out here all on your own. The current is quite strong you could have been sucked into the open ocean. Good for you; you washed up onto the beach before you got caught by the current.” Beck lightly patted my shoulder and handed me a bottle of fresh water which I gratefully accepted. My throat was dry and sore from all the salty water I had swallowed.  
“We should head back to the main beach. Your mother must be worried to death right now. “Sarah said sounding concerned. “ Just in case she´s not still sound asleep.” I tried joking and smiled weakly.  
She smiled back at me and linked her arm with mine “Then let´s get you back before she wakes up shall we?” she joked back. I nodded happily. The older woman Beck linked arms with me, too and together we made our way back around the dunes to the main part of the beach. I took a last look over my shoulder back onto the open ocean just to see the head of the creature peek out of the water just a few feet from where I just left. Its eyes were fixed onto my face and its head was tilted slightly. The questioning look on the creature´s face startled me, but I was no longer afraid because I realized something…when I was swimming there hadn´t even been the slightest hint for some kind of current so that couldn´t have been the reason for my beaching. Then I remembered something pale and big coming towards me before I had faded. That creature….it had saved me. It must have dragged me out of the water. I had no idea how it had managed to do that, but without it I would have drowned.  
I mouthed a silent thank you in its direction, totally aware of the fact that it would never understand what I was saying, but right now I saw no other way.  
I broke the gaze with the creature and turned my head in the direction we were walking. I already could hear the noises from the beach drifting by.  
I looked at my two companions and decided I should thank them for saving me. They did not know about the creature so they were my heroes at the moment. I cleared my throat to speak and Sarah looked at me. “You´re okay? Do you need more water?” I smiled about her concern “No I´m fine thank you. I just wanted to say that I am really grateful to you two for saving me. I you wouldn´t have found me I wouldn´t know what I had done. So thank you. And sorry for the burden I have been…guess I ruined your day. I´d like to repay you for your lost time.”  
Beck just smiled and shrugged her shoulders “Don´t be such a pain. It was quite an adventure it´s fine to me. You are not hurt and alive that´s enough payment for me.”  
“My knight in shining armor then.” I joked and smiled at her  
“I´ll lead you the wa ma´lady.” She replied with a thick fake Scottish accent and the three of us bursted into laughter. I started coughing violently and Beck slammed her hand onto my back for a few times till the attack had calmed down. “Seems like laughing is not the best idea, yet.” She said and smirked. Sarah was still giggling and I knew I had found some friends. “Can I at least use my all inclusive advantage and offer you some nice cold cocktails at the beach bar? I heard they mix a fantastic Marguerite.” I asked them “I would feel bad I´ve I could not give you something in return after the two of you saved my life.”  
Sarah smiled at me “I think my sister and I could live with that quite well. Am I right Beck?” she asked the dark haired girl to my right who smiled and nodded “I think I´d like some alcohol right know…just to calm the nerves. By the way girl I still didn´t get your name and I have to say I´m a grown woman I don´t drink with strangers.” She mocked and winked at me. I smiled and untangled my arm with hers and grabbed her hand “I´m Sophie and I´m really really happy to meet the two of you.” Beck tightened her grip around my hand and shook it briefly before letting go and linking her arm with mine again.  
“Not the best circumstances to meet a new friend, but I´m still really pleased with the outcome. Nice to meet you Sophie. I think I don´t need to explain that my sister Sarah is also very pleased to meet you, too. “Beck answered and pointed over to her sister who clung to my left arm like she had been the drowning person; a bright smile never leaving her face all the way from the bay.  
Sarah looked up at her sister and pointed her tongue at her. “You know I have a good feeling according to people. I know who I like and who I dislike immediately after I see them for the first time. It has always been like this why should it be different with Sophie?” Sarah said  
Beck raised both of her hands in defense and laughed at her little sister. “Always the thick headed child, but you are right little sister you´ve never been wrong when it comes to people…it´s quite a talent of her. She often saved my when I was about to fall for a guy. I have a tendency to chose the dickheads you know.” Beck reached behind my back and ruffled the straw blonde hair of her little sister.  
By now we had reached the part of the beach where I had left my mother. I looked at my mobile phone to see if she had already tried to call me, but it said no missed calls so I locked it again and shoved it into the pocket of my short pants.  
My eyes searched the beach for her unique neon-pink towel she always took with her when we went on trips. I noticed something pink just about 20 feet away from me and the three of us walked up to the spot where I hoped my mother was still asleep. I sighed in relief as I saw that she still was and I untangled my arms with Sarah and Beck so I got kneel down beside my mother to wake her up.  
As I touched her arm to lightly shake her I noticed she was red all over her front….not an angry 3rd degree burn red, but still red enough. I took out her headphone “Mom you have to wake up and get yourself some sun protection you already look like a lobster.” I said right into her ear and her eyes flew open in an instant and she sat up straight. “Damn girl you scared me! I said stop doing that because of you I will get wrinkles sooner as I deserve them. God gods what have I done wrong?”  
“No need to be rude right now mom. I saved you from getting fried bacon in the sun just look at you; you lobster I should start calling you Mr. Krebs now.” I huffed and let myself fall down onto my towel. Sarah and Beck were giggling behind me and I shot them a look which meant something like  
“Ya know…parents.”  
“Mom? I want to introduce you to someone. This is Sarah and this is her sister Beck. You were asleep so I took a walk and met them at the bar over there.”  
My mother turned around and looked at the two girls who were standing behind me. “You made friends? Must be some really special girls then.” She answered and shook the hands of both of the girls. “Nice to meet you two I´m Sophie´s mother. Hope you’re not been drinking alcohol during this time of the day. The heat and the alcohol can do strange things to your head”  
“No need for alcohol.” Beck said sweetly “We can have fun without it. Am I right Sarah?” she asked her sister who smiled and nodded.” Of course not. Also I´m not 21 yet I`m not even allowed to drink yet.” She answered.  
My mother nodded approvingly and reached for her bag to search for her sun protection. “Little one would you please be so kind and cream your mother´s back? I can´t get roasted from both sides can I?” she asked and handed me the lotion. “Guess it´s too late for that.” I thought and squeezed some of the thick white cream into the palm of my hand. I put a generously amount of cream into my hands to make sure my mother would not burn herself again. As I started to cream her back she squealed “Damn you! Couldn´t you warm it a little bit? It´s so cold.” “Sorry your highness next time I´ll do that.”  
When I was finished I cleaned my hands with my towel and started searching for the brush in my backpack. I pulled it out and began brushing out my hair. There were so many tangles in it; it would take a ton of conditioner to get them out. I bit my lower lip as I tucked on a tight knot and groaned in frustration as my brush got stuck in it.  
“Oh my.” Sarah said from behind me “Seems like you need some help again. Let me do it I´m quite good with hair.” She untangled the brush from my hair and started parting it into three sections. Beck sat down beside me in the sand and looked up to her sister “Hell yeah Sophie you can trust hair…she´s one hell of a hair stylist. “ “You are pretty close to your sister or am I mistaken?” I asked her quietly while Sarah was brushing out my tangles and knots.  
“Well…” Beck began and cleared her throat “…in the beginning we couldn´t stand each other, but a lot has happened scince we´ve been young at that brought us closer together and now we are just like sisters are supposed to be I guess.” With her last words she shrugged her shoulders again and looked at sister with a warm smile. “I have a younger brother. His name is Ryan, but I think he was quite fed up with our family. He left for university just before we were about to leave for this trip. He should have been here with us, but that´s how life goes I think.”  
Beck gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze “Who knows…” she said “…maybe if he had been here he would have saved you and we never knew each other by now…wouldn´t that be pretty awful?”  
“Maybe you are right Beck. It´s also been a long time scince I´ve been so close with my mother. She went through some hard times the past year. I´m glad she can leave that behind her now. It´s so easy to talk to you Beck. I have to be careful before I start to bore you with the story of my life.” I laughed and looked at the Ocean in front of me. “ My mother can use this trip to relax a lot, but it seems like my side of the trip is going to be quite an adventure.” I thought and noticed a light tuck at my scalp.  
“ Wake up from your sweet dreams Sophie I´m finished with your hair.” Sarah said and pulled me back into reality. I lightly shook my head and raised my hands to feel my hair. Sophie had woven it into a quite amazing fishtail braid which heavily fell down my back. “Wow Sarah that’s awesome you have to teach me how to do that.” I said, amazed just how smooth my hair felt beneath my fingers.  
Beck also nodded in aprovement but the raised an eyebrow and took a closer look “Well it´s quite good, but something is missing. Sarah you remember that thing we found earlier on the beach? Go get it, it will look beautiful in her hair.” “ Beck you´re a genius. Sophie I promise in just a minute you´ll look just like the gorgeous mermaid you are.” Sarah chirped and hurried to her towel a few meters away from mine. She reached into her bag and pulled out several small objects I could not identify. She walked back to the place where we were sitting and place the small objects right into my hand. “Starfish.” I looked at the small shells within my hand and picked up one carefully. It had a beautiful peachy colour with small red dots scattered all over its body. “They are amazing I can´t take them you found them.” I placed them back into Sarah´s hand. “You can and you will. At least for today you can give them back to us when we go back to our hotels. How does that sound?” Sarah said and started placing them into the braid and securing them with small strands of my hair. “I could live with that.” I answered and smiled.  
“Now you look like a real mermaid. Just look at you. The green bikini and tank, the long red hair. Grow yourself a tail girl seems like you just rose from the sea.” Beck mocked me and smiled.  
“I remember something about cocktails. Shall we go? I´m so thirsty I could drink the whole ocean.” Sarah pleaded and walked a few steps away.  
“Please just wait a minute and let me pack my things. Drinking cocktails without an ID can be quite difficult. And I´m going to write a note for my mother. When she wakes up again she´ll at least know where I am and that she can already walk back to the hotel without me.”  
I searched for my sketchbook and my pencils. I ripped a piece of paper from the block and started writing;

Dear mom,  
The girls and I went down to the beach bar to grab something to drink. Don´t know what the girls are up to, but please don´t wait for me and head back to the hotel if you feel like it. I´ve got my chip cart and will come as soon as they let me go. 

Love you  
Sophie

I folded the note in half and placed it into the case of her mobile phone. I was sure she would find it there. I wanted to pack away the sketchbook and the pencils, but the girls got a hold on it and flipped through the pages.  
“Did you draw those? They are amazing.” Sarah chirped and looked at the painting of the big blue eyes I had drawn earlier. I blushed and snatched the book out of their hands. “Actually I have, but they are not quite finished yet.” I said and put the book away into my bag.” Seems like I´m surrounded by talented nerds. My talent is drinking so pack up and let´s go.” I laughed at that comment, picked up my bag and my belongings and left with the girls.

Beck did not lie about her talent...she could drink…a lot. First we had been at that beach bar, but we soon got bored and the girls led me to some club and the promenade of the beach. In there the air was hot and sticky and people were grinding against each other in attempt to get to the bar or to the dance floor. The music was pretty could, but after quite some time the headache from before came back and I excused myself to get some fresh air. The girls offered to come with me, but I refused and to them to just wait for me at the bar so that we won´t lose each other. They agreed and so I started to make my way through the crowded place.  
I´ve never been an fan of excessive body contact, but here I constantly bumped into someone or some body parts were rubbed against me in the most unpleasant way possible…just how a night club was supposed to be I guess.  
I stumbled through the heavy door of the club and was greeted with the soothing breeze of the ocean; its salty scent carrying all the way to the club where I was standing.  
I sighed and leaned against the wall of the building. The stone was cold against the nape of my neck and soothed the pain in my head a little bit. “I´ve never been the type for partying.” I thought to myself as I wiped away the sweat that had gathered on my forehead. “I think I´ll give the girls a call that I am heading home. My head is killing me and I think if I am going to drink one Marguerite I´m going to pass out or to throw up, if not even both.” I made my decision and fished my mobile from my bag.  
The girls and I had exchanged our numbers before “Just in case.” Sarah had said as she typed her number into my cell phone. I dialed her number and waited for her to pick up. After some seconds she took the call and I could hear the music through the phone. “Sarah can you hear me?” I yelled and hoped she was not to drunk by now.  
“I can hear you Sophie. Where are you?” She slurred into the phone. I rolled my eyes. Great she was drunk, but I gave it a try. “Could you please tell Beck that I´m heading back to my hotel: My head hurts like hell and I need to get some rest? It was a quite exciting day.”I yelled again and some passengers gave me a strange look as they were walking by.  
“ Yaaaaaa I think I can do that little mermaid.” She giggled back as she used my new nickname the two sisters had given me earlier that evening. “I´ll hand you over to Beck now she wants to talk to you, too. Bye darling.” Sarah chirped and there was a moment of silence when she passed the phone to her older sister.  
“Sophie are you okay?” I heard Beck´s voice from the other end. She sounded a lot more sober than her sister…thank the gods.  
“Yes I`M okay I just wanted to inform you that I´m heading to my hotel right now. This day has worn me out pretty bad. Should we meet up tomorrow so that I can give you back the shells?” I asked and touched my braid to see if they were still in place.  
“Yeah we could do that. We can hang out at that bay if you want I can show you where you can dive without any risks of drowning.” She laughed and I smiled, too. “ Yeah I´d like that, I´ll be there at 3 pm I guess I´m going to sleep a little bit longer tomorrow.” I sighed and rubbed my face. I was growing really tired. “Hey Beck, I´m hanging up now otherwise I´m going to fall asleep leaning against a wall. See ya tomorrow then?” “See ya tomorrow little mermaid.” I smiled and hung up. I put the phone back into my bag and started walking towards the beach. I decided to walk back along the shore. Our hotel was located directly at the coast so it was the ideal opportunity to take the walk along the beach. That way I could cool my feet within the water and get some fresh air. Also there were no people walking there like on the street. The street was loud and packed with the ones that wanted to experience Egyptian nightlife. I longed for some serious silence and headed towards the sand. I sat down on a stone and got rid of my shoes so that I could burry my feet within the now cooled white sand. I sighed and closed my eyes for a brief moment.  
This had been one kind of a day. The picture of the creature popped back into my mind and I let the memories flow back. What had I just seen? It had looked almost human…well except the fluke that was floating underneath the water surface. I nearly didn´t dare to speak it out loud, but have I been saved by some kind of mermaid...or merman? Its facial features had seemed a little to harsh to be the ones of a female, but still the thought was to absurd to think about it any further. But never the less it…he…had saved me. I owed my life to something I might never see again. I began to feel a kind of guilt spreading within my stomach. As I first saw him I had panicked so badly that I fell unconscious. I had kicked at him although he never meant to harm me…at least that´s what I tried to tell myself. I sighed and opened my eyes again. I could think about these things when I was back in the hotel so I started walking towards the calm water.  
The ocean was completely calm and not a thing was moving. The moon was painting a liver road onto the water that began at the tips of my sandy feet and reached out onto the ocean until it seemed to touch the sky. The sight was amazing and the water was glistening in the silver light.  
“I could get used to this. It´s absolutely worth the money.” I thought as I dragged my feet through the shallow water. I bend down to pick up a small shell from the ground. It had a beautiful shade of pink and it was shimmering in the dim light of the moon. I decided to keep it to give it to my mother later. I hoped it would make up a little bit of the missed time we had today. “I hope she didn´t fry herself to death otherwise I´ll be her after-sun creaming slave for the rest of the trip. I can think of better ways to spend my time here.” I laughed at the thought and put the small shell into a small pocket in front of my bag. I hoped it would not break until I reached the hotel.  
I looked at my phone to check on the time…11:30 pm…well that wasn´t that late. I slowed down my pace and enjoyed the view onto the ocean. I stopped completely and I sat down onto the sand. Hugging my legs I rested my chin on top of my knees and drank in the sight of the glistening water. It was so peaceful and silent I could have stayed forever.  
But that feeling wasn´t going to stay forever. I just closed my eyes for a short moment, but as soon as it went dark I hear a splash just in front of me and my eyes flew open.  
There it…he…was again, peeking out of the water just enough so I could make out his eyes. Even in the dim light of the moon I could make out the hue of silver within the big blue orbs that observed me from afar.  
I hesitated at first, but the urge to thank him pulled me up to my feet and let me walk towards the water. The waves bare touched the tips of my feet as I hesitantly made my first step into the water.  
I looked up and noticed that he had come closer. I could now see the structure of his face. A straight slender nose between a huge pair of eyes that was observing every move I made. High cheekbones that were connected to a strong square jaw line and a pair of pale blue lips which were slightly ajar.  
He looked so human you could almost forget about the fluke that was paddling in the water underneath him. I took a deep breath and took another few steps towards him. He did not back of: I could not explain that; I had been so afraid at our first encounter, I had panicked, but he was so calm as if he knew something that I didn´t. I´ve been walking quite a distance towards his and I stopped just a few feet away from where he was…well swimming would be quite fitting I guess. I looked into his face unsure what to do or what so say when one of his hands rose from the water. It moved towards my face and I could see the webbing between his fingers. The fingers itself where long thin and pale and his hand was way bigger than mine.  
His fingers lingered a few centimeters away from my face as my hair was caught up in a light breeze and tangled with his fingers. I tried to fix up my braid, his fingers gently closed around a strand of my hair. I stopped dead in track unsure about what he would do next. I looked up and saw his fingers sense the texture of my hair whilst he let it glide through his thin fingers. I was stunned. I´ve been afraid for no reason. He never wanted to harm me and now that he was standing right in front of me I wanted to thank him, but how.  
“The starfish.” I whispered and his eyes were locked with mine again. I wondered if he ever heard human language before.  
I raised a hand to my braid and picked up one of the pretty little starfish Sarah had put in earlier. I hesitantly raised my other hand to gently untangle my hair from his fingers, curiously watching every expression on his face. When my warm hand met his own cold one for the first time he let out a…well how could you best explain the sound he made…it seemed to be a mixture of a sigh and a high pitched whistle. I didn´t know what that meant, but he didn’t flinch, so I took his hand in my own and placed the little starfish into the palm of his hand and closed his fingers around it to show him that he could keep it. “It´s a present. I wanted to thank you for saving me…and to apologize for kicking at you earlier.” I whispered and let my hands fall to my sides where I buried them into the pockets of my soaked shorts. I looked down at the water unsure about what to do next.  
A soft noise which almost sounded like a purr from a really huge cat let me look up again. He had brought up his hand to his face and was observing my little present from every angle. I smiled at that view; he just looked so happy and fascinated. Even his lips had curled into a light smile. He picked up the starfish from his hand and held it against the moon. “It´s pretty isn´t it? A friend gave them to me. It would just be fair if I would give them to a friend to.”  
He lowered his hand again and locked his eyes with mine. I didn´t know what to do so I just stood there as he moved even closer. He raised his hand and tucked the strands of lose hair behind my ear; his cold fingers barely touching my cheek and my ear. I shivered at that sensation and I could feel Goosebumps creeping up my neck, but I wasn´t cold. It was quite the opposite as soon as I felt him touch me my face flushed and my heart began to beat faster. His second hand rose to my face and I knew now what he was doing. He placed the starfish back into my hair. When he pulled back his hands the cold tips of his fingers lightly brushed over my cheekbones and my jawline and I couldn´t hold back a silent moan. His cold skin was a welcomed sensation against the hot skin of my face. He tilted his head and pressed his whole hand gently against my face. I sighed and slightly leaned into his touch. Just as I seemed to enjoy his coldness he seemed to enjoy the heat of my skin, because he made that purring noise again which I knew now meant pleasure; he enjoyed this.  
“You´ve never been so close to a human haven´t you? I have never seen one of your kinds in my life before. I guess we are both new to this.” I said and he looked at me with his big eyes.  
Suddenly there were voices coming closer. I heard slurred chatter and loud singing. Probably some drunk douchebags from the club. I instinctively pushed him away to show him he needed to hide so they did not see him.  
He seemed to sense my upcoming panic and made some strangely cooing noises as if to calm me down. I looked at him and pointed towards the beach “There are people coming you need to hide or they will see you.” It appeared to me like he would understand because he began to back of, but just as he was a few inches away from me he grabbed my arm gently this his big handy and dragged me along with him behind one of the big rocks that were peeking out of the water. He pulled me close to keep me above the water surface and pressed himself against the uneven rock to make us invisible. The chatting went on for some minutes, but after some time it began to fade and we were alone again.  
I let out a sigh of relief. “Thank god you´ve not been caught….this could have ended badly you know.” I said into the blue just as I realized how close our bodies were pressed together. My back was firmly pressed again shin broad chest and I could feel the current his moving fluke was creating around my feet. I wiggled a little bit just let him know that he could let me go now, but his arm around my waist won´t loosen up and I could feel his huge calloused hand encircling my waist. My breath hitched as his own warm breath was ghosting over my damp neck. I could feel a light duck on my braid and I realized that he was sniffing my hair. I blushed furiously and pushed at his arm to make him let me go. He purred again and his grip loosened a little bit so I could turn around and face him, but the only thing I was facing was a pale chest with a prominent collarbone and a muscular neck. I squeezed my eyes shut….I noticed that I did that a lot recently…and tried to breathe evenly.  
We were standing so close to each other that after some seconds I could sense his strong heartbeat against my flushed cheek and out of an instinct I press my heated face against the coolness of his skin. I sighed and as my breath hit his skin I could see him getting goosebumps all over. I was quite surprised to see that he reacted the same as a human and I grabbed his arm to take a closer look. He seemed to be as surprised as I was because his face appeared next to mine as he looked at his arm, too. “You are a curious thing are you?” I laughed silently and he let out the airy whistle again. His breath hit my skin again and the goosebumps were back. “Here you go…” I laughed and held my arm against his “…seems to me that we have a lot in common.”  
It was kind a sight to see him smile and as his lips curled up into a wide grin I felt my heart began to flutter against my chest. I pressed my hands against my chest and took some deep breaths “See what you are doing to me…making me all nervous.” I huffed and threw back my head to get some air.” I think we should name you somehow. I guess you have a name, but I could barely ask you for it…as if you could understand what I wanted to know.” I said into the blue, but a weird idea popped into my mind…let´s play a little Tarzan and Jane game.  
As I wanted to lower my head to face him again I felt a wet sensation creeping up my neck and wandering along my jawline down to my throat. I went stiff as a brick and glanced down at my shoulder where his chin had settled down and he was now smelling my neck and throat. It was fascinating and strange at the same time to be so close to something I´ve never seen in my life before. I patted at his arm to get his attention, but he just looked up and continued nuzzling my neck and jawline. My hand lay forgotten on his forearm and I tilted my head to one side to give him better access. His cold mouth stroked gently over the nape of my neck to the place where my neck and my shoulders connected. A gentle moan escaped my throat and I could feel his grip around my waist tighten. My fingernails lightly scratched the wet skin of his forearm and I could literally feel him purr into my hair. His chest vibrated against my back and my mind started to go blank.  
I let one hand wander from his forearm over his biceps and his shoulder until I found the nape of his neck and gently pulled my nails over the sensitive skin.  
Was this wat ancient stories had been all about? Devoured by a sensitive sea-creature which could turn your bones into jelly with just a gentle touch? Because that technique worked. And how it worked… I could barely think straight as his tale tangled itself with my legs and I instinctively wrapped them around his lean torso. I hadn´t even noticed that I had turned around in his arms now and we were chest to chest breathing into each other faces. Mine surely was flushed like an overripe tomato. His eyes were dark and half lidded and his chest was constantly vibrating with his purrs.  
My right hand was holding onto his neck and my thump was drawing small circles onto his wet skin. My left hand was pressed flat against his torso to keep my balance and I could feel his rapid heartbeat underneath my fingertips.  
I looked up into his eyes “What are we doing here?” I whispered as I drank in the sight of his face. My eyes lingered onto his lips and I noticed that they were slightly agape and that he was panting by now. It seemed he had been above water for quite some time and breathing became hard. I locked my eyes with his and then looked down into the water; then up into his eyes again and back onto the water. After a minute he seemed to understand and pressed me close against his body. One strong movement of his tail and we were under water. We stayed close underneath the surface so there was still the moonlight lightening up our features. He had closed his eyes for a moment as if he seemed to enjoy the fresh cold water flow through his gills again. He looked so peaceful and ethereal; it was such a surreal situation. I led my hand glide along his collarbone and his throat and I gently brushed over the horizontal openings of his gills before resting my hand onto his cheek and caressing his high cheekbones. I kept my eyes open all the time and now I locked my gaze with his blue orbs. His Pupils were blown wide so they appeared nearly black. My own eyes were hooded by now and I asked myself how his lips would taste. Without thinking any longer I brought my second hand to his jaw and lowered my mouth to his pale lips.  
The first contact was like an electric bolt running through my entire body. His lips were soft and cold, but it felt amazing. It was a gentle kiss and I just let my lips linger on his for e brief moment before I pulled back. His eyes were closed and his lips were slightly opened. I had never seen such a deliciously blessed expression I wish I had my sketchbook to capture this moment, but my lungs started burning with a lack of oxygen so I patted his shoulder to show him that I needed to breathe. He understood immediately and a second later we broke through the surface. The cool night air surrounded me and I inhaled deeply a few times. I hadn´t much time to do anything else because I was pulled down into a tight embrace and a cold pair of lips pressed hungrily against my own. I squealed in surprise, but that soon melted into the moan as his pointed teeth started nipping at my bottom lip. I completely lost it there and wrapped my arms around his neck. I pressed myself against him and moaned as a low growl made his chest vibrate against mine. My clothing was soaking wet and cling to my skin, but I wasn´t cold. A melting heat was starting to pool within my lower belly and I pressed myself harder against his lean form.  
One of his hands hat tangled into my hair and he gave it a gentle pull. I threw my head back and he started nuzzling my neck again, but I needed the heat right now. I pulled him away from my neck which earned me a heated, but also confused look. I smirked at his confused face and pressed him into the rock he was leaning at. I let my hands glide down his arms; my thumbs lightly caressing his ribs which gave him goosebumps again. I looked at him and smiled “It seems like you have to get used to this when I touch you.” I said and leaned forward to blow my breath over the damp skin of his throat. I could feel him shiver underneath my hands and I started kissing my way up from his delicious collarbone over his shoulder and his neck. When I reached his jawline I pressed my heated cheeks against his cool ones and started tracing kisses along his jawbone. He was panting again and I gestured him to dive under again, but he just shook his head and locked his lips with mine. I tasted salt and just the pure taste of the ocean and I nearly drowned within that taste.  
I traced his lips with my tongue and was paid back with one of his deep growls. I pushed my tongue past his lips and chastely touched his tongue with mine. A shiver went through his body so I guessed he did like that so I did it again and again. Then he became offensive on his own and let his tongue meet mine in a heated dance.  
When we broke apart we were both out of breath and I could feel the heat pool between my legs. The water was cold, but nearly not cold enough to cool down my heated body. I leaned back a little bit and took in his features as I caressed his cheek to calm him down a little bit.  
“You should let me down I must be pretty heavy right now.” I said and started to free myself from his tight embrace. He made some protesting noises, but he let me go so I had to swim on my own now. The exercise helped me to clear my mind a little bit and I blushed furiously again as I realized what I just had done, but as I looked up at him to meet his gaze I did not regret anything. He was gentle and as caring as one can be…he saved my life. “ I´m going to swim to the beach now I need to get dry and head to the hotel. My mother must be worried to death right now.” I mumbled and started swimming towards the beach. I only swam a few feet as his hand grabbed me and pulled me flush against his chest. I laughed as he began swimming towards the beach me lying on his chest and marveling at his strong features. When the water was to shallow to swim anymore I wanted to stand up, but he wouldn´t let me. He looked at me with a questioning look and made an adorable whimpering noise which made me melt. “You´re one kind of a cutie aren´t you?” I thought and simply smiled at him as I leaned in for one more kiss. I intended to keep it short, but it seemed that he had other plan. As soon as my lips gently brushed over his he deepened the kiss and I could feel new passion rising within me, but I could not let that happen. First I needed to get back and second this was the public beach if somebody saw him it would end in a disaster.  
I gave in for a few seconds, but I broke the kiss shortly after. I gently kissed his forehead and got up to my knees. He followed straight and propped himself up onto his elbows. He was just so human I barely could stand it.  
“You´re one of a kind you know that? And I think I´ve got the perfect name for you. What do you think of Nero? It means water in Greek.” I explained to him. He simply looked at me and smiled. “I take this as a yes then.” I said and caressed his damp cheek one last time before I went to pick up my bag from under a chair that had been standing in-between the umbrellas. I could feel his eyes following me and I walked back to the water. “You need to go now. The sun will rise soon and you can´t risk people seeing you.” I pointed at him and then at the ocean to make him understand that he had to leave. He gave me a short nod and that whistling sound again. “I know I don´t want to leave either, but it´s not the last time we meet I promise. I´m going to be here every day.” His hand reached up to cup my face gently and he brushed his thumb across my cheek then he spun around in an amazing speed and dived into the ocean in the matter of seconds. I laughed at this ad stood there for several seconds until his silhouette had vanished completely. I turned to walk away when I heard a splash behind me and then another. I turned around and saw Nero jump out of the sea again and again.” I know I am happy, too.” I smiled and waved and his jumping figure. He jumped once more and took of with a splash of water behind him.  
I shook my head and finally headed back to the hotel. Without his body pressed to mine it was getting really cold by now and I decided to take a hot shower once I got back. I curiously looked at the time on my cell phone and was startled as it said it was almost past 3 am in the morning. I sped up my pace and 15 minutes later I was standing in front of my mothers and my apartment. I pushed in the chip card and opened the door as quietly as I could. It creaked a little bit as I hurried inside and I quickly shut it behind me. I peeked into the bedroom to see my mother was sound asleep as always; my note lying opened at her nightstand. “Thank god she read it.” I thought and put down my bag beside my bed. I got rid of my damp clothes and placed them outside to dry. My hair was a mess and it took me half an hour to find all the starfish hidden within the nest that was supposed to be my hair. I also found a hairband and pulled it out. It did hurt, but I was glad it was finally out. I I Put the shells on my nightstand and hurried into the bathroom. I silently closed the door and turned on the hot water in the shower. I stepped in and moaned deeply as the hot water ran down my cold body.  
It took me three times with shampoo and conditioner each to get rid of all the tangles, but when I came out of the shower I was all peachy, clean and untangled again. I combed through my hair with a few stroked and braided it into a simple braid so it would not get messy again over night. I sneaked back into the bedroom again and lay down onto my bed with a deep satisfied smile. I curled up into the cool blankets and before I could do anything more I fell asleep. That night I dreamed of blue eyes and passionate kisses under the sea and I woke up with a smile on my face.


End file.
